We had a great turnout for our February 24, 2015 Urban
Fiction book discussion at the Alma Powell Branch. The book Reverend Hype was written and self-published
by local author Deacon Raymond Ryan. After talking about the motivation
behind writing this fictional story Deacon Ryan lead a spirited discussion. The
participants had questions and comments that contributed to the lively discussion
with hopes that there will be a sequel.

Sonya Hollins, who had helped Deacon Ryan get his book published, joined the group. Sonya talked about the self-publishing. She encouraged everyone to think about telling his or her story. Sonya says that everyone has a story inside.

Attention, Teen filmmakers! If you're planning to submit a film to the 12th annual Teen Filmmaker Festival, don't forget that all submitted films are due January 17th. That's only 10 days from now, so don't wait! Put the finishing touches on that masterpiece and send it to the Teen Services department ASAP. For more information, check out the Teen Filmmaker Festival page or pick up an entry form in person from the Teen Services Desk.

Thursday December 11, KPL’s ONEplace held a workshop on Mindfulness in the Workplace. ONEplace@kpl is a management support organization offering resources and services to nonprofit staff, board, and volunteers in Kalamazoo County. The workshop was presented by Eric Nelson from Stress Management Solutions: Training for Health and Well-being.

We have all heard of the benefits of being stress free, but now organizations and employers are becoming more aware of the rewards of a stress free environment. The improvements in productivity, being more focused, health benefits, less absenteeism and fewer distractions are all incentives for mindfulness in the workplace.

Mr. Nelson talked about being focused, attentive and more disciplined and controlled; being emotionally balanced; and understanding negative emotions. He took us through a Three Step Breathing Space and other mindfulness training exercises.

I greatly appreciated learning ways to set aside just a few moments or minutes to focus and bring balance to my work day. Thanks to ONEplace@kpl.

It's winter recess, holiday break, whatever you call it, and kids have some time away from school. Enjoy some of the great children's programs happening at Kalamazoo Public Library over the next few weeks! Cupstacking, Bubbleman, Yoga Storytime. LEGO at the Library, Stories and Dance, Yummy New Year's Hats, Family Game Day, Movie and Snacks, Flying Aces Frisbee Team... all the details are at Kalamazoo Public Library's online calendar. And, with the Michigan eLibrary, KPL provides access to fun online educational content as well. Take a look at the Michigan eLibrary datase Early World of
Learning and theMeL Kids Gateway. There really is a lot to enjoy!

Kalamazoo Public Library is pleased to announce a call for entries for the 12th Annual Teen Filmmaker Festival! As always, the Festival is looking for the best Michigan teen-produced and directed films. Every year, we get tons of amazingfilmsby talentedteens from across the state and we're super-excited to see what you'll come up with this year. Films are due January 17th, so don't delay- put the finishing touches on that masterpiece and send it to the Teen Services department ASAP! For more information, check out the Teen Filmmaker Festival page or pick up an entry form today!

Beginning in early September, the library will join forces with the Kalamazoo Area Agency on Aging to offer two healthy living workshops that may be of interest to you or someone you know. The first is Personal Action Toward Health (PATH), a 6-week workshop designed to help adults learn techniques and strategies for the day-to-day management of chronic or long-term health conditions, including arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, emphysema, asthma, bronchitis and depression. The PATH workshop takes place on Tuesday evenings at 5:00pm at Washington Square Library beginning September 9. Please call 269-553-7970 to register for Personal Action Toward Health. The second workshop is Matter of Balance, an 8-week workshop designed to reduce the fear of falling and increase activity levels among older adults. Matter of Balance takes place on Thursday afternoons at 1:00pm at Oshtemo Library beginning September 25. Please call 269-553-7984 to register for Matter of Balance.

Tickets are now available at Oshtemo Library for storyteller Chris Fascione’s performance onFriday, July 25 at 3pm. Fascione brings classic literature to life with storytelling, mime, juggling, and comedy. Don’t miss this crazy fun program! Come pick up a free ticket at Oshtemo Library today!

The afternoon of Saturday, May 31, 2014 marked the beginning of a new annual event at KPL: Three Book Battle. Middle School students from seven different schools joined forces and battled through book knowledge on The Giver, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy and Return to Sender to be the first Three Book Battle champion. Teams competed in two battles that day for a total of 48 questions, 16 from each book. Huddles were formed, decisions were made, pencils moved frantically, and pride filled the Van Deusen Room!

This new event for 6th-8th graders set the bar high for the future with near perfect scores and contagious reading enthusiasm. Teen Services would like to thank the Friends of KPL for providing a mini grant opportunity to sponsor this event. Each team received a set of books to keep, Jones Soda and a Bookbug gift card to fuel their love of reading.

Congratulations go out to our final battle teams:

1st place – The Dauntless Snowballs of Revolution

2nd place – The Wolverines

3rd place – The Divergents

4th place – The Red Panda Readers

5th place – The Carter Crew

Plans are already underway for the 2015 Three Book Battle. Thank you KPL Teen Services, the Friends of KPL, TBB participants and the audience for making our first Three Book Battle one for the record books!

Book

Three Book Battle

This spring, we celebrated the 20th year of the Global Reading Challenge! This quiz-bowl program is for 4th and 5th graders. Students form teams at their schools, read ten books chosen by KPL children’s librarians, then work as a team to answer questions about the books, earning points with correct answers.

Our intent is for kids to have fun reading the books and participating in a team activity. The ten books are carefully chosen to reflect our diverse world and to show characters successfully solving problems, contributing to their communities, and learning that people are more alike than they are different.

The first Challenge, in 1994, featured 19 teams from Lincoln, North Christian, and MLK Westwood; the winning team was the “Bookworm Warriors” from MLK Westwood. This year we had 129 teams from 17 schools! The District Final Challenge featured teams from Edison, Arcadia, Prairie Ridge, Spring Valley, and Northglade. The champion was the “Crazy Cougars” team from Prairie Ridge. Thanks to the students, parents, teachers, principals, and coaches for another successful year of books and reading!

Over this summer, librarians will be reading and choosing the books for the 2015 Global Reading Challenge. Team applications will be accepted in October and the book titles will be announced in December.